Hello, fellow bug lovers - I usually don't post on the insect forum - most of my posts are in the Orchid gallery - but I just came back from a week in the Minnesota north woods, and have a few pictures that might interest you, particularly you who live south of central MN. There are a few northerly types that most of the country may not be familiar with. First:

Milbert's tortoiseshell - We will occasionally see it here in the Twin Cities, but much more often up toward the border, or in Canada. Great coloration!

{{!gwi}}

Second, a butterfly that I consider one of the most beautiful in North America, and found only in the far north - we never see it even as far south as the Twin Cities. When I was a kid, collecting insects, we called it a Banded Purple. Now, it is properly called a White Admiral, and is the northern subspecies of the familiar Red-Spotted Purple. Bigger and much brighter.

{{!gwi}}

Hope you enjoy them! Tucker.